Mr Sinister Isn't a Fan of Ethics
by Fourteen Hundred Hours
Summary: Mr Sinister steals Gambit and Loki's DNA to make a kid. Why? 'Cos he's bored. T for swearing and DNA nicking.
1. The Creator

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Marvel Universe. That would make me god.**

**Just something I came up with when I was bored. More chapters to follow.**

Mr Sinister had always fancied the idea of creating a child. A mutant child, with brilliant power he could use in later experiments. Creating an embryo was nothing; he just needed tissue samples from his subjects. No, the problem was who should be the gene donors of his creation? He'd toyed with the idea of Jean Grey, but the stupid girl had only decided to be the host of an interstellar force. That would be the last thing he needed. A mixture of Emma Frost and Cyclops would've been interesting, but the way things were going it looked like there may soon be a baby of their own making….

He landed on the idea of Gambit. Yes, a powerful mutant who could lead to interesting offspring. But he wouldn't use the DNA of his girlfriend, Rogue. She was weak. But may be useful in later experiments…

He decided on the second subject days later. His sensors had picked up a humanoid figure landing outside his English base. Zooming in on the screen, he noticed who it was. Sinister smiled, and leant back in his chair. Perfect. Loki.

. . . . .

The Asgardian appeared to be disorientated. As Sinister watched he saw him keel over and fall asleep. _Perfect. _Reaching for his hypodermic needle he carefully extracted a blood supply and then silently retreated into the shadows. _One down, one more to go._

. . . . .

Remy leBeau raced down the street followed by a horde of mega-sized wasps. He'd no clue why they'd been doused with Pym Particles, but they were big and that meant their stings were even bigger. He also had no clue why one of them had a massive syringe instead of a sting. Why they were like that didn't matter right now. Hank could sort it out later. Skidding to a halt he spun round and unleashed a set of charged cards at the wasps. Most of them were hit and drew back. Satisfied he'd hit them, he turned around only to be stabbed in the back by the wasp with the needle.

"Aaaargh!" He fell down and sent another set of cards at the back of the retreating wasp. _Weird… _he thought, and then _shit, my back, how do I explain to Hank a mutant wasp stole my blood?_

. . . . .

Mr Sinister waited for the return of the wasp. When it returned he broke he siphoned off the blood, then terminated his creation. There was no point keeping it around longer than necessary. Taking his two blood samples he retreated to his laboratory, and set to work on his new project.


	2. The Kid

**This is a bit random… I wanted the kid to grow up, but without Gambit being about 40. Time travel seems like a bit of a cheat, but I hope it's worth it. Not sure why or how Sinister can time travel. It doesn't matter. Probably.**

At last. Mr Sinister had the child. Piercing green eyes stared up at him, looking far more mischievous than possible for a new-born. Although technically he hadn't been born - a test tube baby. Ethics had no effect on Mr Sinister. They got in the way.

The baby opened his mouth and screamed. That was the one drawback in Sinister's plot. He didn't want to raise a baby; he just wanted a child with extraordinary powers he could study. He'd have to find someone else to raise the baby for him. And he didn't want to have to wait years until the baby's mutant powers developed.

He would drop the baby ten years in the past, and let him grow and develop powers all on his own. Sinister smiled. Yes. It was a good plan. Picking up the child, he set to work.

**So, this does in fact take place a week after last part. 'Cept the kid is now 15 as Sinister's time travelling was a bit off. Sorry for any confusion… I watch more time travel programs than are good for me.**

Jari Clark stuck his tongue out at the mirror. _Bleh. _He scrutinised his reflection. He had a face that got him into trouble. Mischievous green eyes peered out under a fringe of matted brown hair. He rarely smiled, instead preferring to smirk. He couldn't help it. Teachers had always judged him as a trouble maker. At the age of nine, tired of being judged, he decided to do what was expected of him. Practical jokes, missing homework, being a smart-alec: his school reports regularly caused his carers stress.

_Jari has a brilliant mind, but instead of applying it to his work he insists on playing pranks on his classmates. _His latest report had ended in him getting grounded for a month at the children's home. Being grounded meant he still had to go to school. He narrowed his eyes at his reflection and sighed. He'd been on best behaviour for weeks, under threat of being held back a year. _Behaving is boring. Nothing interesting happens at school._

He had no idea just how interesting his day would turn out to be.

**Yeah, things get more interesting in the next chapter. Enter Gambit and Loki! (And chaos.)**


	3. The Parents

**Okay, time for the 'family' reunion! Hope it doesn't disappoint. Reviews appreciated : )**

Gambit walked back to his room rubbing his back. The psychotic mutant wasp attack had been a couple of weeks ago, but his back still ached. On top of it, the students all thought it was hilarious he'd been attacked by an insect.

_If I was them I'd laugh _he thought to himself. _But still, I doubt they'd find it quite so funny if they'd been on the receiving end._

_**Remy! Stop wallowing in your self-pity and get down here no! In case you've forgotten X-men don't get sick leave, especially not for sore backs.**_

He groaned. Emma Frost's psychic shouts could hurt like hell when she wasn't in a nice mood. Which wasn't very often.

. . . . .

"Cerebra has located a new mutant." Emma didn't beat about the bush. Behind her Cyclops stood like a statue, impassive.

_You can never tell what that guy's thinking. It's those damn glasses .It doesn't help that he never smiles. _

"LeBeau could you kindly turn your mind to the matter in hand? You're not paid to think." Emma's glare and sharp voice cut through his thoughts.

"You don't pay me at all. And so what? Loads of mutants pop up all the time."

"But not like this one. He's an strong alpha, probably even an omega. And he's just discovered his powers. If we don't get to him fast, we don't know what he could do. I'm sending you, Scott and Bobby over to bring him in. Don't waste time."

He moved over to the door, followed by Cyclops and Bobby.

"Oh, and Remy? Remember to watch your back."

. . . . .

Loki wasn't pleased with being sent to Earth. He could have been putting his time to much better use. Why couldn't his idiot brother Thor have been sent instead? For almost sixteen years Odin the Allfather had been sensing an Asgardian presence on the planet, yet all Asgardians had been accounted for. Loki had eventually been sent to Earth to track whoever it was down, but he'd been there two weeks without finding anything out. To be honest, he had no idea what he was looking for. But something had drawn him to this school, and so here he was. Maybe whoever it was posing as a teacher. He was distracted by a flash of bright green light which suddenly erupted out of a first floor window.

_That would be who I'm looking for. I'm guessing now would be a good time to intervene. _Loki ran into the building, towards the source of the light.

. . . . .

"Bloody hell – the wall's been vaporised!"

Jari blinked. _Did I do that? I was only thinking about breaking down the wall and running out of this school for good. How did it suddenly vanish?_

Pandemonium erupted. The teacher stood frozen while his students ran over to the remains of the wall.

"Wicked! The wall has totally vanished!"

"How did that happen? What's going on? What do we do? Should we call the cops?"

"It must've been one of those muties that did it. Like the ones on the news!"

_Am I a mutant? Or was it someone else? _Jari's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of three oddly dressed figures, and another guy dressed normally.

"Whoa, it's the Avengers!"

"No, it's the other ones – the X-men!"

"So it is the muties! Ha, I knew it!"

_Why are they looking at me? Or am I just being paranoid? What the heck is going on?_

One of the guys, wearing an odd pair of glasses, came over to him.

"Jari Clark? Come with us."

"Um, did I vaporise the wall? Are you really the X-men? Are you going to kill me?" Jari's brain went into overdrive.

"Yes, yes and hopefully not."

"Hopefully?"

"Try not to put up a fight. Are you going to come quietly?"

Jari considered his options. Refuse to go, and probably get beaten up by glasses guy or one of his friends, or go with them. Easy choice.

He nodded, and followed the guy out the room. The guy with glasses walked over to the non-costumed guy.

"I don't know what you're doing on Earth, but either go back home or come with us." The normal looking guy smirked. He smirked in exactly the same way Jari did. Jari was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice.

"This kid is more my problem than yours. But for the sake of foreign relations I'll come with you."

Glasses guy grunted and walked off followed by his two costumed counterparts, the blonde one grabbing Jari by the arm and yanking him along. Jari looked back at his stunned classmates. Unsure of what to do, he simply waved. Then for the first time in ages, he properly smiled.


	4. The Journey and the School

**The chapter where some things get explained and some things don't! Sorry if Gambit and Iceman came across as too silent – they'll have more to say in future chapters. **

It was an odd journey. Flying over to America from England in a sleek looking jet had been cool, but the journey itself was awkward. Jari had been strapped down into a chair, with a costumed guy on either side of him while the guy with glasses piloted. They'd told Jari their names: Cyclops, Iceman and Gambit, but said little else the entire journey. He'd tried to strike up a conversation, but the only one interested in talking was the dark haired guy dressed in jeans.

"So…. Cyclops. Is that some kind of code-name? Do you actually have one eye? Or is it just your glasses?" Jari was met with silence. He tried the others.

"What about you? What do you do?"

"The name's Iceman. What do you think?"

"It's difficult to explain. If you're not careful I'll show you." Gambit took out a pack of cards and began shuffling them, paying no attention to Jari.

"They're trying to be tough. Just ignore them. They like showing off." This last remark came from the ordinary one.

"So you don't work with these guys?"

"Heck no. Though I know all about them and from the looks of things they know all about me. I didn't realise they were so rude though." At this he was met with a glare from Iceman.

"So why were you at the school? Were you stalking them or something?"

"I was looking for you. Turns out that they were too."

This reminded Jari of his circumstances. _What do they want with me? Is it just 'cos I vaporised that wall? And what's Vivienne going to think when I don't come back to school? She probably won't notice, she's got the other kids to look after. They might not notice I'm gone for ages!_

"But why were you looking for me?" Although worried, Jari was still curious.

"I'm sure everything will be explained when we arrive at their top secret base. They are fond of their secret bases on Earth. It's quite quaint."

"On Earth? Where are you from?" Jari was amazed. Was this guy actually an alien? But he was wearing jeans!

"I'll tell you later."

"What are you even called?"

"Loki."

"Like that god dude? Are you a god?"

"I'll tell you later."

_Great. _Jari sat back in a huff. _I thought he might have got to the point where he told me what was going on, instead of confusing me further._

The rest of the journey passed in silence, broken only by the occasional humming from Loki. Luckily they soon landed at the 'secret base' of the X-men.

. . . . .

Ten minutes later and Jari was seated at a table with Cyclops, Loki and Gambit. Iceman had run off, muttering something about training, but Gambit had been made to stay by Cyclops. Jari had been disappointed to discover that the secret base was in fact, a school.

_I finally manage to leave one school only to end up in another. Just my luck._

A door opened and in came a blonde woman. She smiled at Jari, but the smile looked forced and out of place on her face. The person behind her smiled properly at Jari, which was unsettling, as the person in question was large, hairy and blue, and had fangs. The blonde cleared her throat.

"My name's Emma Frost, I'm the headmistress here at the school. This is Hank, he's our resident medic. If you don't mind he'll be taking a blood sample from you. If you do mind it won't make much difference."

Hank came over to Jari.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt, I'm good at this sort of thing. You wouldn't believe it to look at me…"

He leant over with a syringe and painlessly extracted a blood sample.

"There. Not too bad?"

Jari shook his head.

"Right, well, I'll be off to the lab." Hank walked out of the room whistling to himself.

Jari was left in a room full of unsmiling people.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but if you sit quietly for a while I'll try to answer them." Emma's voice was patronising, like the kind of voice Vivienne used on him and the other kids.

"I have questions too, do I have to 'sit quietly'?" Loki was smirking.

"I'll get to you later. And yes, you can kindly keep your mouth closed." Emma snapped at him.

"We're the X-men. This school here is a home for mutants all over the world who can't live normal lives. We teach them how to use their gifts, and when they are old enough they can join the X-men. This morning we picked up a new mutant on our radar. That was you. Your power signal was very high, so we thought it would be best to bring you here before you did anyone any damage. We're aware that you're an orphan, and the blood sample Hank has will be used to see if we can find either of your parents. It's likely they're mutants, and they may be on our database. Secondly, Hank will run tests to see what the full extent of your powers are. Any questions?"

Jari shook his head, stunned. _This is way too much to take in. I'm a mutant? These people might be able to find my parents? _

Satisfied, Emma turned her attention to Loki.

"Your turn. Why don't you tell us what you're doing here on Earth?"

**Ha ha. Cliff-hanger. Sort of. You kind of already know why Loki's on Earth. But anyway.**


	5. The Truth kind of

**Sorry for the delay in upload time – I've been revising for exams… This is when Jari finds out who his parents are! And when his parents find out who they are! And the X-Men policy stuff is just a ploy to keep Gambit in the room…**

Loki stretched, and leant back in his chair, smirking.

"You're only asking me to tell you why I'm here because you couldn't read my mind. Yes, I knew what you were trying to do, Miss Frost, but your mind tricks won't work on me."

"Just tell us what you're doing here already!" Cyclops was annoyed.

"Do I actually have to be here? Only there are other things I'd rather be doing." Gambit spoke up, looking bored.

"You have to be here, Remy, because a certain policy of the X-Men states that three members of a functioning X-team must be present while dealing with… foreigners." Emma snapped.

"Is that me then? Is it 'cos I'm English?" Jari was even more confused.

"It's because of me. I'm not from Earth. And I'm guessing there needs to be three of you in case I turn nasty and need to be restrained. Correct?" Loki looked innocently up at Emma, who was glaring down at him.

"I think I'll tell you what I'm doing here" Loki was smiling now; delighted at the fact he had clearly disgruntled all assembled X-Men.

"For Jari's benefit I'll go into detail. I come from Asgard, where Odin is king. For about sixteen years now he has been sensing an Asgardian presence on Earth. What was odd was that it was weaker than usual, and all Asgardians had been accounted for. So I got sent to investigate. I eventually arrived at this school only to discover that Jari was what Odin had noticed. So he's not a mutant, as you think, but an Asgardian. On that note I think I should take him back to Asgard." Loki stood up, and motioned for Jari to do the same.

"You must be wrong." Emma's face was stormy. "Cerebra locates mutants. And what Jari did at that school shows that he _is _a mutant."

"The Allfather is never wrong. Your technology must be faulty." Loki's voice was calm, but his eyes glared at Emma.

"Actually, you may both be right." Everyone turned to look at Hank, who had just appeared in the doorway. "Jari's molecular structure is certainly different from any normal human's. However it is also different from any mutant's that I've come across. If Loki would be so kind as to give me a sample of his blood, I may be able to settle this problem."

All eyes turned to Loki. He shrugged and rolled up his sleeve.

"The sooner we get this over with the better."

"Here's to that!"

"Remy, if it's too hard to say something intelligent don't bother at all." While Emma was telling Gambit off the blood sample was taken and Hank was back in the lab.

The room fell into silence. Jari sat still, chewing on his lip, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Are you coping okay?"

Jari was surprised. The question had come from Gambit, who was looking at him with concern.

"Um, yeah. Well no, not really. I mean, it's all kind of weird, you know? I thought I was human, then I get told I'm some kind of mutant, then I'm told I'm actually some alien type god thing! It's just… odd."

"It'll get better though. Hank'll be able to find your parents, then you can get your life together. Loads of kids here go through similar feelings."

"Scott, I think Remy has missed his true calling here. Maybe he should take over from me being the school councillor!" Emma gave a short laugh. As did Loki.

"You're the school councillor! Is Frost your actual name or does it describe you?"

Emma turned her head. "For someone worshipped as a god you're remarkably childish."

"I _am_ the god of mischief."

"Oh yes, the god of thieves and liars and mischief makers. You should get on well with Remy."

Hank eventually arrived back, with an odd look on his face.

"Finally. Hank, do you have news? Do you know who or what Jari's parents are?" Cyclops looked relieved Hank had finally appeared.

Hank nodded. "I do. And the results are quite surprising, and at first sight seemed impossible. The only explanation I can think of is that Jari must be the result of some genetic experiment-

"That can wait, Hank. Who are Jari's parents? Is he a mutant or Asgardian?" Emma was impatient.

"Both. One of his parents was a mutant, the other an Asgardian. His parents are..." he trailed off, looking uncertain. "The tests show that Jari's DNA has come from Gambit and… Loki." He finished, unsure what reactions he would get.

Emma and Cyclops were both astonished. Gambit was shaking his head, muttering to himself in French. Loki looked stunned. Jari looked from one father to another, and put his head in his hands.

**And on that bombshell… Jari will find out the full extent of his powers in later chapters! Also- the battle for guardianship begins! Please review! And please let me know What genre/s you think this is – I'm not sure and I wrote the damn thing!**


	6. The Short Term Arrangement

"So… I'm some sort of genetic experiment?"

"It would appear that way. Unless… Loki- you can shape-shift right? Did you ever… you know…" Cyclops trailed off, looking from Gambit to Loki to Jari.

"No. Simple answer. I don't generally change my gender. Especially not for him." Loki was absently rubbing his arm, where the blood sample had been taken from. Gambit was still shaking his head.

Hank coughed. "Of course, I may be wrong. It is a bit of a far-fetched theory."

"Hank, you're never wrong. Gambit and Loki will just have to come to terms with being parents. And while those two get their acts sorted Jari can stay here. It's the best place for him."

"Could you stop talking like I'm not here!" Jari was annoyed. "Does anyone care what I want? Maybe I want to go back home- Vivienne will be wondering where I am."

"Do you actually want to go back?" Emma finally turned her attention back to Jari.

"Well, no. But that's not the point!"

"And don't worry about Vivienne, darling, we'll just send her a message explaining that you've been accepted into one of the top boarding schools in the world. She shouldn't mind. We won't tell her you're a mutant if you don't want. It's probably better that way. As for you Loki, I think it would be best if you let us deal with Jari. I'm sure he has a lot of questions and they will most likely be answered here on Earth."

Loki stood up and moved to the door. "I'm going back to Asgard. I'll need to explain the… situation to Odin. You'll hear from someone soon." With that he walked out the room. No one made a move to stop him.

Emma forced a smile. "That's settled then. Jari will stay here."

Gambit spoke up. "The god of mischief has just walked out here unguarded. If I was him I would be up to something." He also moved to the door. "I'll go and try and find him".

Emma nodded. "Scott dear, you go too. And Hank, you should probably get back to the lab."

"Right you are." Hank smiled reassuringly at Jari as he left. Jari smiled back weakly.

Emma's forced smile was back. "So, Jari. I'll show you your room and you can get to know your classmates better. Since you're staying here it would be best if you attended classes along with the others. Come along now. And in answer to your thoughts, yes I am being patronising- I feel it's the best way to deal with troublesome kids like you."

"Troublesome! I haven't done anything yet!" Jari was indignant.

"Darling, your parents are the god of mischief and a world class thief. You're not going to be a model student."

. . . . .

"Um, are you okay? Only you haven't said anything since you got here." Jari looked up. A girl with bright pink hair and a Welsh accent was looking at him with concern.

Jari sighed. Emma had shown him a room he would be sharing with a couple of other students, then promptly dumped him in another room. A few of the students had looked at him with interest when he arrived, but they had left him alone when he had simply sat in a corner on his own. This girl was the first to approach him.

"I guess finding out you're a mutant must be tough. I freaked out completely! But everyone here has gone through the same thing, you don't have to be so silent."

"Has everyone here thought they were an orphan their whole lives only to find out they had two parents, one a mutant the other a Norse god?"

"Well a few of us are orphans, and some of us have pretty weird parents." The girl looked uncertain at Jari's response.

"On top of that, it turns out I wasn't even born, I was created in some weird experiment thing!"

"Um, right. But seriously, you should forget all that stuff. I mean, yeah, you were an experiment, but you're here now, maybe you should just try and have fun and stuff…" She trailed off, worried she had gone too far. To her surprise Jari smiled.

"I guess you're right. Let's forget that conversation and start again. I'm Jari. I'm not sure what kind of mutant I am but this morning I vaporised a wall."

"Right!" the girl said brightly "I'm Megan, or Pixie. I can fly and I've got fairy dust. I'm Welsh. You're English right?"

Jari laughed. "I'm not sure what I am to be honest."

"Oh get over it! I'll introduce to the others. That's Jay, he's one of the Guthries- there's loads of them…"

. . . . .

Emma walked quickly along the corridor, towards her room. She never ran. It was unladylike. She had received a message from Scott and Gambit saying that Loki had appeared to have left, but had been busy beforehand. As she reached her room, she noticed nothing out of ordinary. Gambit was looking a lot more cheerful than he had right to, and even Scott had a wry smile on his face. Silently, he pointed at her cupboard. Emma froze.

Green. Every single item of clothing had been turned green. All thoughts of behaving in a ladylike manner were forgotten. Emma opened her mouth and screamed.

**Loki will be back in the next chapter… and the inhabitants of Asgard want to meet his son!**


	7. The Revelations

**A note to get the time periods sorted: the X-Men part takes place sometime before M-Day, when the sun was shining and the birds were singing. The Thor part takes place before the film, when Loki was unaware of his true parentage and Thor was an arrogant idiot. **

"Bobby, have you seen Remy anywhere?" Rogue hadn't seen Gambit since he left for England, and was wondering where he was.

"Yeah, I saw him sulking off to his room a few minutes ago. He looked very thoughtful, which is a new look for him! Did you guys have another fight or something?"

"Not that I'm aware of. I'll see you later." Rogue hurried to Gambit's room, wondering what was up with him. It wasn't unusual for him to be in a mood, but he normally made the source of annoyance obvious. Reaching his room, she knocked on the door.

"Sugah? Can I come in?" She peered round the door. Gambit was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. He sat up when he noticed her, and motioned for her to come in.

"What's wrong? Bobby said you were in a sulk."

"Did you know that Emma Frost's wardrobe has been turned green? Every shade from acid green down to khaki. Even her underwear..." Gambit tried to change the subject. He wasn't successful.

"Remy, I don't think Emma's underwear has caused you to hide away in your room. Come on, you can tell me what's wrong."

"I'm a father."

Rogue gave a gasp and stood up. "Oh. I see. I suppose our relationship was too good to be true. I… I guess I'm happy for you, if you've found someone you can truly be with…"

"No! Rogue, it's not what you think, it's complicated, but there's no one else. That kid from England… for some reason he's got half my DNA. Hank thinks he's some sort of genetic experiment."

Rogue shook her head. "Seriously? So you think someone has stolen your DNA and made a kid with it? That's a bit far-fetched Remy, even for you."

Gambit groaned. "I know how it sounds. But it's the only explanation. It's just hard to come to terms with."

Rogue gave him a hug. "Sugah, I know it's hard, but imagine how the poor kid must be feeling. He's just found out he's an experiment. Maybe you should try and talk to him."

Gambit sighed and got off the bed. "You're right. I'll go and find him."

"Do you want me to come too?" Rogue offered.

Gambit pretended to look shocked. "In my understanding of father-son bonding time, women do not get involved! See you later _chère." He smiled and left._

_Rogue sank back onto the bed. She loved Gambit, but god help the kid who has him for a dad._

_. . . . ._

Loki arrived back on Asgard. _Great. Now I have to tell Odin that I have a child on Earth. And that will quickly become common knowledge over the whole of Asgard. Thor will never let me forget this._

"Was your journey to Earth successful?" The question came from Heimdall, who didn't look like he actually cared about the answer.

"In a way, yes." Loki answered. "I'm just glad to be out of those human clothes." Heimdall merely nodded, and said nothing more.

Loki had thought the journey to see Odin would give him more time to gather his thoughts. What he hadn't counted on was running into Thor, who then proceeded to walk the rest of the way with him.

"So, brother; was your journey successful? How are the humans getting on?" Thor gave a laugh. "Still fighting their ridiculous little wars?"

"You should give the humans more credit." Replied Loki. "Some of them may surprise you."

Luckily for Loki, Thor's attention quickly directed itself back to himself, and he told Loki of all the fights and competitions he'd got into during the past weeks. Eventually they arrived at their destination. Loki turned to Thor.

"I'll see you later, brother" To his surprise Thor just laughed again.

"Oh no, I'm coming with you! Everyone's been waiting to hear about this mysterious Asgardian living on Earth. Sif, the Warriors Three, they're all waiting with Odin to hear your report. Better not keep them waiting!"

Loki's thoughts of a quiet audience with Odin vanished. To his credit, his expression never changed.

"Of course. I should have realised."

"Well what are we waiting for!" Thor threw open the doors and marched up to the throne, followed by Loki.

"Father! Your son has returned from his journey!" Thor boomed.

_Ever the show off. _Loki thought as he followed Thor. _What possesses him to constantly be the centre of attention I shall never know._

Reaching the throne, Loki bowed to the king. At the side his mother gave him an encouraging smile.

"So. Loki Odinson. What news do you have? Who is this Asgardian who is living secretly on Earth?"

"A boy. He is only half Asgardian; his other parent is human."

"Who is his Asgardian parent? Surely you must have found that out" Odin's one eye stared intently at Loki.

_I'd better not delay the inevitable._

"He is my son." As soon as he had said the words he heard the whispers and the gasps of shock.

"Your son? How can this be? Why did you not tell us you had fathered a child?"

"Because I did not know. I am still unsure as to how I have a son. The warriors of Earth, the X-Men, believe he was created as an… experiment."

"I see. Is this child born of magic then?" Odin's tone was challenging.

"You could say that, yes. He is currently staying with the X-Men." Loki felt he had gotten away with things relatively easily.

_Right- I've explained the situation, father seems to be satisfied, that should be the end to that._

"I want to meet this boy. Loki, travel back to Earth and bring him here. We will then decide what to do with him. That is all." Odin stood up, as did everyone else. He led a procession out of the throne room. Loki quickly left to avoid having to speak to anyone.

_It's no use disobeying father's orders. But what do I say to the boy? What is he expecting from me? And what will that Frost woman say when I turn up again? _He sighed. _Back to Earth then._

. . . . .

Gambit found Jari in the medical wing. He was sitting on a bench, talking to Hank. Gambit knocked on the door and went in.

"Er, hi. I thought I'd drop by."

"Gambit! Come in, we thought about sending for you actually. I think I've figured out what Jari's mutation is." Hank was carrying a radio and a Geiger counter. "Take a seat." He nodded towards another bench.

"I started by analysing what happened when Jari vaporised the wall. There was a brief spike in radiation levels, which completely disappeared afterwards. I then tested Jari for a number of other things: it appears he can turn invisible and interfere with radio signals."

"That sounds a bit crazy, even by X-Men standards." Gambit looked thoughtful.

"I don't know whether Jari was designed to be this powerful, or whether it's a side effect of being half Asgardian. But either way it appears that he can manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio waves, light rays, gamma rays; all those kinds of things."

"Wow. Really? That's awesome!" Jari looked excited.

Hank gave a slight smile. "Yes, I suppose, it is 'awesome'. But you must be careful- I'm not sure what your limits are and if you're not careful you may end up doing something very dangerous indeed. You saw what happened to that wall: make sure it doesn't happen accidentally to anything or anyone. I suppose asking a teenage boy to be sensible is a bit much to ask- but try."

Jari nodded. "No vaporising people. Got it."

"And no cooking them with microwaves either. Or changing the colour of their clothes." Hank looked sternly over his glasses at Jari.

"I could do that?"

"Well done Hank- at least I won't get the blame for planting dangerous ideas in his head!" Gambit was laughing. "Do you know what happened to Emma's clothes?"

"Yes, I heard about that. Which was why I mentioned it. Like father like son."

Gambit stopped laughing.

"Now, get out of here, I'm going to run some more tests."

Jari jumped off the bench and headed for the door, followed by Gambit.

"Jari, wait, could we talk?"

Jari turned around, looking uncertain. "Um, about what?"

"I hadn't got that far. I just thought maybe we should get to know each other. After all, you do have half my DNA" Gambit gave a laugh.

"So…" Jari was at a loss for words.

"Do you speak French?" Gambit latched onto the first topic he thought of.

"No… I gave it up 'cos I liked German better."

"Well mon fils, I think we have found our conversation topic."

. . . . .

Loki sat in his room. He didn't have to leave for Earth straight away, so he had time to collect his thoughts.

_I have a son. What am I supposed to do? And how do I have a son? I wasn't even on Earth fifteen years ago so how could this be possible? At least going back to Earth will give me a chance to avoid the rest of Asgard._

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door.

"Loki? It's your mother. May I come in?"

Loki got up and opened the door. His mother swept in and gave him a hug.

"Mother… what?"

"Don't do anything stupid." She withdrew from the hug.

"I was not planning on. I'm simply going back to Earth." Frigga had always been more sentimental than Odin, but Loki wasn't sure what had brought this latest bout of affection on.

"I don't mean Earth. I mean don't do anything stupid with your son. I know you: you'd just leave him on Earth and try and forget him. Don't do that. You yourself know how important having a father is, and by the sound of things this boy hasn't had one most his life."

Loki sighed. "You're right. I'll try being a father."

Frigga smiled. "Thank you. You're doing the right thing." She got up and went to the door. "Good luck."

The door closed and Loki groaned. _Why does mother always have that effect on me? Does she make Thor feel this guilty whenever she speaks to him? _

_So now I've got to persuade the X-Men to let me take Jari back to Asgard. It shouldn't be too hard. At least I won't have to wear human clothes this time._

**I've tried to make this chapter longer… hope it suits. Let me know what you think!**


	8. The Argument

**Here we go: chapter number 8! Wolverine makes a brief guest appearance. **

"Hey Jari, do you want to see the Danger Room?" Pixie's voice rang out from the open door of Jari's room.

"Aaaargh! Megan! What are you doing? This is a boys' room!" Nick Gleason jumped up and ran to the door, trying to obscure Pixie's view of the room. "It's a boys only zone. No girls. Even you."

"Oh get over it. I just wanted to see if Jari wanted to be shown the Danger Room." Pixie peered round Nick into the room. "Your room is a tip! Is this why you don't want me to come in? Haven't you heard of tidying?"

"Heard of it, yes. Practice it, no. What's the Danger Room?" Jari had joined Nick at the door.

"It's where the X-Men train! It's like, really cool, you kind of have to see it to know what it's like. When the older guys are training we're allowed to watch, in case we pick anything up. Want to see?"

"Yeah, sure." Jari was intrigued. He'd never heard of a school with a 'Danger Room' before. To be fair he'd never heard of a school for mutants before.

"Nick, you coming?"

"Yeah! I heard Wolverine was going to be down there this morning- I'm not going to miss that."

"Jay?" Pixie addressed the last occupant of the room, who had remained hidden under his duvet throughout the conversation.

"I am asleep. You cannot reach me. Please go away."

"Suit yourself. Wait 'till you see the X-Men in action Jari- it's awesome!" Pixie dragged Jari out of the bedroom and towards the Danger Room.

. . . . .

"Okay, fire it up" Wolverine shot his claws out and nodded to Cyclops.

"Logan, this isn't a game, we're training. Try and concentrate." Cyclops stood with his arms folded. "And don't do anything stupid- some of the kids have decided to watch."

"Hey Gambit- is that your kid up there?" Bobby grinned at Gambit. "Has he come to watch his daddy in action?"

"Oui. If action means beating your sorry butt."

"X-Men! Focus. Danger Room training session now in process."

"Yes o fearless leader!"

. . . . .

Emma Frost frowned as she saw a familiar figure appear on the CCTV. She hadn't expected him to come back so soon, if at all. Trying not to think what the man would do to her clothes this time, she sent a message to Cyclops.

_Scott? I know you were planning on training this morning but Loki's come back sooner than expected. Get Gambit, Jari and some food. This may be a long meeting._

_. . . . ._

Wolverine had just ripped the head off a robot when the Danger Room ground to a halt. Looking round he saw Cyclops beckoning for Gambit to leave the room with him. Bobby was laughing to himself and Rogue was looking confused. Seeing as Bobby looked like he knew what was going on, Wolverine headed over for a chat.

"Hey, bub- what's the deal with Specs and the Cajun?"

"I'm guessing some pressing issue has risen involving Gambit's kid. Again. I do not envy him one bit."

Wolverine nodded, then frowned. "Wait… Gambit has a kid?"

"Where have you been these past few days? Actually, don't answer that, I'm not sure I want to know. Anyway, let me fill you in…"

. . . . .

"Aww. They stopped early. It was just getting interesting." Pixie looked annoyed.

"That was so cool! Where'd they get this thing? Do we get to use it?"

"Yeah, sometimes. We don't go up against the kind of things they do though. I wonder why they stopped?" Pixie frowned down at the X-Men below. "Cyclops and Gambit have disappeared too. Maybe the others will carry on. I bet Cyclops stopped it when he thought people were having too much fun. That guy's such a spoilsport!"

"Thank you, Miss Gwynn. Jari, could you come with us?" Cyclops had appeared behind them during their conversation. Pixie quickly turned round, blushing.

"Oh, Mr Summers, I didn't realise you were… I didn't really mean that I just meant… that you, um, kinda…"

"Forget it. Jari- Loki has come back. We need to talk."

Cyclops turned and left the room, waiting for Jari outside.

"I guess I've got to go. I'll see you later then." Jari headed for the door.

"Jari- wait! Um…" Pixie was still blushing. "Er… good luck!" She finished brightly, then hurriedly turned away and started talking to Nick.

Jari muttered thanks and left. When he was out of earshot Nick elbowed Pixie.

"Ha- you're blushing! Do you have a thing for our newest resident mutant?"

"Don't be silly, I barely know him. Did you see that move Wolverine did back there?" Having successfully changed the subject Pixie relaxed.

. . . . .

Jari entered the room to find both Emma and Loki sitting with arms folded, looking anywhere but at each other. He sat down opposite Emma, who directed another of her forced smiles at him. To his surprise, Loki also smiled at him, although the smile was a lot more genuine than Emma's.

_Oh no. Why are they smiling? What's happened? _Usually adults only smiled at Jari before they launched into a series of complaints and threats.

Gambit was also weary. "What's this about?"

"I have reported on the situation to Odin. He has decided to send me back to Earth to arrange for Jari to be brought to Asgard." Loki replied smoothly.

_Wait… he refers to me as a situation? Nice to feel wanted. And I don't want to go to Asgard- I've just got settled here!_

Jari's thoughts were shared by Gambit. "Nice to refer to your own son as a 'situation'. And there's no need for him to move to Asgard, he's got a home here."

"I apologise. I did not mean to refer to Jari as the situation; I meant it in reference to my own role as a parent. And Jari wouldn't have to stay on Asgard; Odin only wants to meet him."

Jari breathed a sigh of relief. _Great, at least I can still stay on Earth. And it'd be kinda cool to see Asgard. But how do we get there? Do we fly or something?_

"How do we get there? Do we fly or something?" He felt stupid as soon as the words left his mouth.

Loki laughed. "No, we don't fly, but…" He was cut off by a furious Emma.

"You are _not _taking him to Asgard! We have no way of knowing what you might do to him there, and as he is mutant it is the X-Men's responsibility to look after him! Did you honestly expect we would let you just walk out with him?"

"Please bear in mind, that Jari is half Asgardian, and so he has as much the right to go to Asgard as he does to remain on Earth. And I would say that it's Jari's decision where he goes." Loki's voice had taken on a dangerous tone.

"But the X-Men are Jari's guardians now, and as he is not yet sixteen we are responsible for his actions." Emma looked to Scott for backup. She didn't get it.

"Emma, he has only been with us a few days. And he _is _half Asgardian. And he will be coming back." Loki smiled to himself. Human minds were so easy to influence.

Meanwhile, Jari was glaring at Emma. _Why is she so intent on me staying? What right does she have to decide where I can go? Why is her hair turning blue… oh my god that was me. Oops. Well at least she wasn't vaporised…_

Luckily only Loki seemed to have noticed Emma's change of hair, but he didn't mention it. Gambit felt the childish need to raise his hand in the air to attract attention.

"Yes?" Emma snapped at him.

"I think Jari should go to Asgard. But if you're so intent on him being under X-Men guardianship I'll go too."

"Yes, that's actually a good idea. Both parties should be satisfied. Any objections?"

Scott shook his head. Emma just scowled.

"Great." Gambit and Loki both stood up and moved to the door at the same time. Jari was already out the door. He wanted to get as far away as possible from Emma before she realised what he'd done to her hair. He ran down the corridor, turned around at the end, and shouted back up.

"I'll meet you outside in two minutes- I'm just going to say goodbye first." With that he ran off to look for Pixie.

. . . . .

"Whoa- you're actually going to Asgard?" Nick was amazed, and Pixie was shaking her head in disbelief.

"Yeah, I am. I don't know how we're going to get there though."

"Maybe you'll fly" Pixie suggested. "How long are you going to be away?"

"I'm not sure. Shouldn't be too long though. Anyway, I've got to go. And I'd stay clear of Frost for a while- she's going to be in a bad mood."

Before they could ask why, Jari had gone.

. . . . .

Gambit and Loki waited outside, not knowing what to say to each other.

"So…" Gambit started, then stopped. Loki took over.

"Do you know who Jari was going to say goodbye to?"

"Probably Pixie. Those too seem to be pretty close. Even though they've only known each other a few days." Gambit was glad the awkward silence was over.

"More to it than friendship?"

"I'm not sure… I haven't asked."

Jari suddenly arrived, slightly out of breath.

Loki smiled mischievously. "How's your girlfriend?"

"She's fine. Wait… I don't have a girlfriend!"

"Just a little joke." Gambit was also smiling.

_Great. _Jari thought. _I never thought I'd see the day when I'd get to meet my parents, let alone see them gang up on me._

"Are you ready?" Loki asked both Jari and Gambit.

"Yeah, but I still don't see how we're going to get there."

"Just wait and see"…

**Hope it was okay, I've written it while watching Formula One so apologies if it's a bit odd.**


	9. The wonders of Asgardian Alcohol

**Yet another chapter mostly written during Formula One. Red flags- bad for watching TV, great for writing fan fics! **

Jari arrived on Asgard, and promptly fell over. "That was so much cooler than flying!" he exclaimed. Loki laughed and helped him to his feet. They looked over to where Gambit was lying, clutching his stomach.

"Mon dieu, do we have to go back to Earth the same way? That was worse than teleporting with Kurt."

"Unfortunately yes, but you'll get used to it." Loki was amused. "I take it you're not a fan of rollercoasters."

"Correct. And how does a Norse god know about rollercoasters anyway?"

"I just do. We should hurry up, Odin will be expecting us."

Jari was regarding Heimdall with interest. "So you have a sword, which controls the magic teleporting dome cannon thing, which can zap people from one place to another?"

Heimdall turned to Loki. His eyes were questioning- he had clearly not understood a word Jari was saying. Loki shook his head, then headed towards the exit. He motioned for Jari and Gambit to follow him.

The journey to the throne room was shorter than Jari would've liked. Given more time he'd have liked to explore, but instead he was dragged off to meet Odin. Loki had been talking rapidly the whole journey.

"The Asgardians aren't likely to take the fact Jari has two dads lightly, be prepared for that. And try not to offend anyone- most people here have high levels of pride, and will most likely respond to insults with violence. And bow when you meet Odin, he is a king after all."

"Oh I know all about that royal stuff. The Queen visited our school and we all had to call her 'ma'am' and not look her in the eye and stuff."

Gambit laughed. "You've met the Queen! Is she really as posh as she looks on TV?"

"Focus!" Loki snapped. "This is actually important. It's not often an Asgardian has a child with a human."

"Really? The Greek gods seem to do that all the time." Jari was interested.

"And whatever you do, do not mention the Greek gods." They arrived at the throne room doors.

. . . . .

Gambit didn't like kneeling. His knees were starting to ache, and he was starting to get an itch in his left foot. He looked over at Jari who was shifting about uncomfortably. Although they'd only been kneeling for half a minute, it felt like an age. Odin spoke.

"You may stand."

They stood up.

"What's your name?" Odin addressed Jari first.

"Jari Clark"

"And Loki Odinson is your father."

"Yes."

"And who are you?" Odin now addressed Gambit.

"Ga… Remy le Beau."

"And why are you here?"

"I'm Jari's other parent."

Beside Odin Frigga gave a small gasp. Thor looked confused. "Wait, but, you are both men, are you not?"

Odin nodded. "How is this possible? Loki, have you been shape shifting again?"

"No father. Let me explain. Jari was born of… magic, meaning it was not required for him to have a mother. I had never met Remy until I learned that I had a son."

"I see." Odin seemed satisfied. "Jari, do you have anything to say?"

"Oh, well, what happens now? I mean, you've met me, do I go back to Earth?"

Odin chuckled. "Why so hasty little one? Do you not wish to spend more time on Asgard? Besides, I would like some time to come to terms with this situation, and would appreciate it if you and the human would stay here for a few days. I will wish to speak to you both at some time, and it would be inconvenient if you had to travel to and from Earth."

Gambit whispered to Jari. "Agree to stay! I don't want to make more journeys between planets than necessary."

"Okay, we'll hang around for a bit." Jari said, and then corrected himself, remembering who he was talking to. "I mean, yes, I will accept your gracious offer of accommodation, my liege."

Odin chuckled again. "Very well. I will arrange for rooms to be set up for you both. You may leave now."

Loki motioned them to follow him out of the room. Once outside he turned to Jari. "My liege? That was going a bit far."

Jari laughed. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist it, it was all the gold and weapons and stuff, it made me come over all Arthurian."

"Try not to let it happen again." Loki's tone changed. "Would you like me to show you around Asgard?"

"Yeah!" Jari appeared to be enthusiastic. Gambit on the other hand, didn't.

"You two go, my head's still spinning. I think I need a sit down."

"I think we'd better leave him alone- he's gone a bit cross-eyed." Jari was trying not to laugh.

"Alright. Follow the corridor then take the second right- there's a garden there that's normally pretty quiet. We'll find you later."

Gambit nodded, then started off down the corridor.

Loki turned back to Jari once Gambit had disappeared out of sight. "How about I show you the trophy room, and then where the warriors train?"

"Yeah! Do you have a Danger Room in Asgard as well?"

Loki shook his head and then headed off to a set of stairs. "Danger Room? Honestly, sometimes I have no idea what you Earthmen are talking about."

. . . . .

Gambit had no intention of going for a sit down in the garden. Once he was certain Loki and Jari had moved away he doubled back on himself. On the way to meeting Odin he'd noticed a group of Asgardians playing a game that resembled cards, and by the looks of things they weren't too bright. Whistling to himself he set off to join them.

. . . . .

"How long have they been gone for?" Pixie subconsciously hovered a few feet in the air.

Nick sighed and checked his watch. "Four hours, twenty minutes. Look, are you going to play basketball with us or not?"

Pixie slowly came down to Earth. "Sorry, it's just, nobody really knows what these Asgardians are like really. They could all be cannibals and be planning on eating him or something!"

"I doubt it. And even if they were I'm pretty sure Jari and Gambit'll be able to look after themselves. Anyway, Miss Frost says they might be gone a few days." Nick was getting impatient: he had been hoping to get some basketball practice in before lessons but Pixie wasn't really making that possible.

"But what if they…"

"They'll be fine, Megan." He said forcefully, then threw the ball at her for good measure.

"Hey! You'll pay for that Gleason!"

. . . . .

"What do you think of the view?" Loki and Jari were at the highest point on Asgard, looking out over the landscape.

"It's amazing. I never imagined it would look like this. It reminds of something out of Star Wars."

"Star Wars?" Although the god of mischief knew about rollercoasters, he wasn't as strong on the finer points of Earth culture.

"Never mind."

There was silence for a few minutes, until Loki spoke again. "Why don't you stay here? Come and live on Asgard."

Jari had not been expecting that. "Um, well… I would like to spend more time here but I'm happy on Earth. Asgard is amazing but I grew up on Earth, and I've got friends there, I don't think I could just leave them and come live here."

Loki smiled slightly. "Of course. I should have realised. But the offer remains open. I think we should go and find Gambit; the feast will be starting in a few minutes."

"Yeah, okay."

Just as they turned to go, Thor ran over to them. "Brother! Come quickly! The little human has got drunk and started gambling! I think a fight may be starting- if you come now you'll get to watch it!"

_Oh no. Going for a sit down? I should've thought something was up _Jari thought as he raced after Loki and Thor.

. . . . .

It normally took a lot to get Gambit drunk, but Asgardian mead was a lot stronger than anything he'd had on Earth. Soon he was drunk, and happily gambling away money he didn't have. After a while though, the Asgardians realised he didn't have any money, and a fight was on its way.

Loki and Jari arrived just in time. Smoothly, Loki managed to convince the Asgardians that Gambit had already paid his debts, and that they should just let him go. Jari was amazed.

_It is just like Star Wars! He's using weird mind tricks on people. Awesome! My dad is a Jedi! _

Grumbling about the fight that didn't happen, and confused about why it didn't happen, the Asgardians dispersed, leaving Loki and Jari to deal with Gambit. Loki dragged him to his feet, and supporting Gambit's weight began to walk away. On the way to drop Gambit off at his bedroom, they had to cope with his drunken ramblings.

"You're really strong for your size, y'know?" He slurred, leaning heavily on Loki. Loki rolled his eyes at Jari.

"Thanks for saving me from the big guys- you're my hero." He continued.

"You're drunk." Loki said, laughing slightly.

They reached Gambit's room. "I think we'd better leave him here overnight." Loki said, as he and Jari watched Gambit fall onto the bed.

"What's his hangover going to be like tomorrow?" Jari wondered. "He seems pretty drunk."

"I'm sure we'll find out in the morning." Loki replied, as he closed the door on the now snoring Gambit.

"Do you think we should lock him in?"

"Believe me, he won't be leaving this room in the state he's in, so there's no danger of having a drunken mutant on the loose in Asgard."

"Yeah, but it'd be pretty funny if we did." Jari said thoughtfully.

"Alright then."

**I'm not sure why I put a drunk Gambit in; it just seemed to happen… And Mr Sinister will be coming back, if not in the next chapter in the one after that… I really like these dot dot dot things…**


	10. The Warning

**Here we go- the chapter when a certain suspicious (some might say sinister) gentleman comes back into action (he stares at a computer screen)!**

"Ah, Jari, come over here." Jari had just entered the throne room, and was glad to find Odin was on his own. He hadn't liked being interrogated in front of a room full of Asgardians. A big room at that. He walked over to Odin, and kneeled.

Odin laughed. "There's no need for that; you're here as family."

Jari got to his feet, smiling ruefully.

"What do you think of Asgard?"

"It's amazing! It's like nothing I've ever seen before! It's just so cool."

"Cool? I suppose this is one of your Earth terms?" Just like practically everyone else on Asgard, Odin was confused by some aspects of Jari's vocabulary.

"Yeah. I've been getting that a lot here."

"I see." Odin's voice became more serious. "Will you consider staying longer on Asgard? Or will you depart back for Earth?"

"Oh, I'd kind of counted on going back to Earth. I like it here, but Earth is my home."

"Earth is a lot more dangerous for you than Asgard." Odin's voice was grave.

"Dangerous? What do you mean?"

"You were created. The person who created you must be incredibly powerful, someone on Earth who is far more advanced than any human, and more than any mutant."

"Do you know who did it? Who created me?" _One revelation after another _Jari thought.

"I do not. But you must have been created for a purpose, and some day your creator will find you. If you stay on Asgard you will be safe. You could live as one of us, and you would be protected. On Earth you only put yourself at risk."

"I see." _Great, I still don't know who my 'creator' is. Not only that, I was created for 'a purpose'. How many phoney movie clich__é__s can my life have!_

"I will leave you to consider my offer. Choose wisely. And please send the human up to speak to me."

"Oh, he's got a bit of a headache." Gambit's antics the night before were a form of embarrassment to Jari; he'd tried to forget them.

"Yes, I heard about that." Odin's serious tone was gone. "But I would like to speak to him anyway."

"Okaaaay. I mean, yes I will go forth to seek him out and tell him that you request his presence _don't say my liege don't say my liege don't say it! _my… lord." _Phew, that was close._

Odin chuckled. "Your Earth culture certainly is a curious one."

"Yep. Bye." Jari gave a hasty bow and bolted for the door.

_I can't believe he's actually asking me to stay on Asgard, after the complete idiot I've made of myself._

. . . . .

'A bit of a headache' was an understatement. Gambit had woken up around midday and felt like he'd gone ten rounds with the Hulk. No, ten rounds with the Hulk and Wolverine and the Thing and practically every other superhumanly strong being he knew of. Wait, all that as well as having his brain replaced with yoghurt. Yeuch- yoghurt. Food in general seemed like a terrible idea.

_A shower. That's what I need. Maybe that'll bring me round. Uuurgh, even thinking hurts. How did I get this drunk?_

Somehow he managed to find his way over to the door. But when he tried to turn the handle he discovered he couldn't open the door.

_Wow, I've never been so drunk I couldn't open the door before. Must be the foreign stuff. _And with that he passed back into blissful unconsciousness on the floor.

. . . . .

"How was it?" Loki asked, joining Jari as he headed towards Gambit's room.

"It was fine, until he told me that if I stayed on Earth I was basically asking for trouble and that I should come and live on Asgard." Odin's prophecy of doom wasn't high on Jari's list of priorities. Top of the list was trying to make Gambit wake up enough to meet Odin.

"What's so dangerous on Earth?" Loki wanted to know.

"'My creator' apparently, who has some weird ulterior motive for creating me." Jari tried to brush the questions away.

"Of course… Jari you should pay more attention to what Odin says; we should have realised before. It _is _dangerous on Earth." Loki looked concerned.

"Yeah, well, that can wait. Right now we need to unlock Gambit's bedroom and give him some Tabasco or something to shake off his hangover."

"Tabasco?"

"I dunno, I've never had to cure a hangover before have I?"

Loki smiled mischievously. "I do not have this 'Tabasco' but I do have something that will work."…

. . . . .

"Mon dieu! What did you do to me!" Gambit's eyes eventually came into focus as his hangover disappeared.

"Believe me; you do not want to know. I know it's not pleasant, but it will be better than going to see Odin feeling the after effects of heavy drinking." There was no hint of sympathy in Loki's voice.

"It feels like you've hacked at my brain with an ice pick."

"But the hangover's gone, yeah?" Jari asked.

"I suppose… my toes have gone numb though."

"Just a side effect. Now hurry up, Odin's waiting." Together Jari and Loki managed to guide Gambit to the throne room, threw him inside, then sank to the floor laughing.

"What did you do to him!" Jari asked, still laughing at how Gambit had managed to fall over, twice, on the journey.

"More or less what he said- I simply hacked away at the bits of cloudiness in his brain left over from the drinking. Unfortunately, during that process the brain can get hit as well, resulting in numbness, say in the toes."

"Blimey. That's a pretty handy trick."

"He'll eventually regain sensation in his toes, but it'll be painful."

"We shouldn't really be laughing, should we?"

"No."

They carried on laughing.

. . . . .

Jari was preparing to go back to Earth. As far as he could tell, Odin had just warned Gambit of the threats towards Jari on Earth in their rather brief talk. Despite this, Jari had still decided to go back to Earth. He just couldn't leave it; his friends, the internet, Pixie, football…

He shook his head. _Now is not the time to think of football. Get some perspective Jari Clark._

"Are you sure about this?" Loki had silently appeared.

"Yeah, I am. Sorry. But maybe the guy who created me won't come looking for me. And if he does it might not spell danger and doom and stuff. And Asgard is cool, but everyone here seems to be way older than me, and I've got friends on Earth so…"

Loki nodded. "I understand. But the offer to live on Asgard remains. I will come and visit you in a few days too. Just because you live on Earth does not mean that I will neglect my duties as a father."

"Right. Um, well, ok. I'll see you later then." Jari headed over to where Gambit was waiting to be transported back to Earth.

"I am not looking forward to this." Gambit muttered, as Jari cheerfully waved at Loki.

"Come on, you're an X-Man, you must've been through worse." Jari replied, as Loki raised his hand in farewell.

"Nothing like this – aaaargghh!" Gambit's shout echoed as they hurtled back to Earth.

. . . . .

They hit the ground just a few minutes walk away from the school. Jari helped Gambit stagger to his feet, then headed off. As they neared the school they were met by Cyclops and Emma. Whereas Cyclops looked relieved that they'd arrived back safely, Emma looked slightly disappointed for the same reason. With a start, Jari remembered what he'd done to Emma's hair before he left.

_Oh no, I'm gonna get it now. Better try and deflect the negative vibes…_

"You'd better get Gambit to the medical wing- he doesn't cope well with interstellar travel."

"I can see that Mister Clark. And you are very lucky that your colour-changing antics wore off after a few hours."

"Colour-changing antics? I don't know what you mean…" _Damn it, caught out._

"Jari!" He was interrupted by Pixie throwing herself at him. "You're okay!"

"Well yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Flattered though he was, Jari was slightly confused.

"She thought they might have eaten you." Nick had evidently chased after Pixie.

"You thought I'd be eaten?"

Pixie blushed. "Weeeell…"

"Miss Gwynn, Mister Gleason, you should get back to lessons. Take Mister Clark with you." Emma's voice was cold, and her gaze didn't shift from the students as they ran back into the school.

"Emma?"

"Yes dear?"

"We really should get Gambit to the medi-wing." Cyclops was looking at a slightly green Gambit with concern.

"Of course dear."

. . . . .

Far away, in a different country, the small figures on a computer screen disappeared into a building. Watching with a grim satisfaction was a shadowy figure.

_So, the boy seems to have settled in nicely with both the X-Men and the Asgardians. I think it's time I paid him and his happy family a visit. It's been a while since I've been to America… I wonder if I've been missed?_

He chuckled silently. _Oh, they won't know what's hit them. _

Mr Sinister smiled, and left the room.

**Mr Sinister is back in action! And I know that brains aren't normally compared to yoghurt, but I've been raiding my fridge and yoghurt is pretty much all I've found. Warning- I won't be updating for at least another week- I'm venturing off to do work experience! If I update within a week- they've come to their senses and kicked me out!**


	11. The Date

**Amazingly I managed to last a whole week at 'work' experience. So here is the new chapter! Hope it's worth the wait.**

"Hey, do you know that a couple of times a month we're allowed to leave the school for a day? You know, have a chance to get out and stuff." Pixie had come up behind Jari, and was twisting her arms nervously behind her back.

"Um, no, I didn't. Damn!" Jari was trying to pick the lock on a ridiculously secure briefcase; one of the many challenges Gambit had set him over the past few days.

"Only I've only taken one day out this month, so I was wondering if you'd…" she was cut off by a triumphant yell from Jari, who'd given up on traditional lock picking methods, and had instead vaporised the lock.

"Isn't that radiation blasting thing harmful?" Pixie looked concerned.

"Er, no. Hank said it was all controlled or localised and something about nanoseconds. What were you saying before?"

"Just would you like to get out of the school sometime? I can show you round the area, or we could go to the cinema or something." Pixie blushed, but stood her ground.

"Okay. Like a date?" Jari still wasn't giving her his full attention, as he had opened the briefcase to find a second, smaller box inside.

"Yes, I mean, no, or um, maybe…" she trailed off, biting her lip. "You know what, forget it. Maybe Nick will come along too."

Jari turned to face her, boxes set aside. "Megan Gwynn, would you go on a date with me this weekend?"

Pixie looked surprised, but happy. "Yeah, great! Um, I'll go tell Miss Frost so she can give us permission" She turned round and practically flew out the room.

Just as Jari turned his attention back to the box, Nick poked his head round the door.

"Nice one! Took you long enough; we got so bored with you guys getting nowhere that Jay suggested setting you up on a date!"

"I did not." Jay was indignant, and joined Nick in looking round the door at Jari.

"We also thought it was kinda funny, you know, you both being British." Nick continued.

"I wouldn't say funny exactly." Nick gave an exasperated sigh at Jay's continuous opposition.

"Hey! Were you listening in the whole time?" Jari was annoyed.

Nick wasn't fazed. "Maybe. But we just had your best interests at heart…" He broke off as Jari vaporised not only the lock, but the entire box. "And right now, your best interests involve us getting out of here. Gotta run." And grabbing Jay by the arm he ran off.

. . . . .

"Oi! Gambit!" The X-Men had finished another training session, and just as Gambit wanted to head off for a shower, he was stopped by Iceman.

"I heard your son's got himself a date this weekend. Isn't it time you sat down and had that talk about the birds and the bees?" Iceman grinned. Gambit groaned.

"Non. That I cannot do. Rogue?"

"Sorry sugah, that's one of the tasks of being a parent." She too grinned.

"Mon dieu. The world hates me." Gambit threw his arms up to the ceiling in despair.

"Come on bub. Just tell it to him straight and maybe you'll dissuade him from doing something he'll regret." Wolverine had joined in the conversation.

"Logan, the boy's fifteen!" Rogue pretended to be scandalised.

"Ah, the youth of today." Iceman winked at Gambit and strolled out the room, patting him on the back as he left.

Gambit shook his head and left the room.

. . . . .

It wasn't until that evening that Gambit bumped into Jari. Jari had sheepishly come to find him, and muttered something about 'killing the damn box'. Gambit had waved the apology away; although a small part of his mind wondered at how great a thief his son would be if he ever put his mind to it. Motioning for Jari to take a walk with him, he eventually decided to address the topic he'd been trying to avoid.

"So… I hear you have a date with Pixie."

"Yep, that's right. Dunno what we're going to do, but it's a date." Jari seemed unaware as to where the conversation was heading.

"Right. Well, I er, need to talk to you then." Jari grasped what he was talking about.

"Oh no. Not 'the talk'. My friend Seb got given that talk a few months ago and he couldn't eat anything for days. Mind you, his dad does deal with loads of underage pregnancies and so probably scared him more than necessary. But please, don't give me the talk."

Gambit was relieved. "So it's not necessary?"

"Heck no." Jari was also relieved.

"Good. Because that would've been awkward. For both of us." They walked on in silence for a while, until Gambit spoke again.

"So you vaporised the box?" Jari nodded. "Next time I go on a job do you fancy coming along?"

Jari nodded again, then paused. "Wait, a job?"

"Sometimes something dangerous to mutants or the X-Men pops up, and so Cyclops sends me out to steal it." Gambit gave a laugh. "The amount of times I've stolen Sentinel hard-drives…"

. . . . .

Loki arrived on Earth Saturday afternoon, under orders from Odin to try and convince Jari to stay on Asgard. As he expected, he was met outside the school by the strict blonde woman and her spectacled boyfriend. She greeted him with a glare.

"Your son has picked up a few of your tricks."

_She doesn't waste time does she? _Loki thought, with mild amusement.

"Oh? What has he done?" Loki feigned surprise, though he knew very well what Jari had been up to.

"He turned my hair blue. Then set the fire alarm and sprinkler system off. Not to mention the fact he's an outrageous liar." Emma looked like she was keeping something from him. Loki wasn't sure what, but it appeared to give her a great deal of pleasure.

"I see. I'm glad you are offering such a well-rounded education." Loki couldn't keep from smirking. "I'm here to see Jari."

It was Emma's turn to smile. "He's not here right now. Would you like to leave a message?"

"Where is he? You realise that he's at risk on Earth, as whoever created him must want to find him." Loki couldn't help it, this woman should realise the threats on Earth.

_So that's what she was keeping from me. How dull is her life that she gets pleasure from me travelling to Earth only to be told to come back later? _

Cyclops finally decided to speak. "That did occur to us. We humans aren't completely oblivious. He's perfectly safe though, I doubt that he'll be in danger for the few hours he's away. And from what I've seen he should be capable of defending himself."

This didn't satisfy Loki. "In that case, I shall wait here until he returns. I came to Earth to speak to my son, and will not leave until I have."

Emma scowled, but Cyclops simply nodded. "Of course. You can wait inside the school."

Loki nodded and swept off, followed by Cyclops. Emma was soon telepathically harassing her better half.

_What are you doing, Scott? Why are you just letting him walk into our school? Why do you always act odd when he's around?_

_Its fine, he's not going to do anything. And I'm not acting odd, I'm being sensible. If we left him alone outside who knows what he might do._

Emma nodded. She had to admit, it did make some sense. Unfortunately, Loki seemed to be aware of their telepathic exchange.

"Your hospitality skills are not up to much. It's rude to talk about your guests behind their backs." Laughing he headed off, leaving Emma and Scott speechless.

. . . . .

Emma had given Jari and Pixie permission to leave the school, and so they set out to the cinema. Pixie's wings were hidden under a red jacket, and they were both under strict orders not to do anything out of the ordinary. On the way to the cinema Pixie did most of the talking, happily chattering away about anything and everything. They decided to see the new Harry Potter movie, and so spent the next couple of hours watching the film and eating popcorn.

By the time they left it was dark. Jari had his arm round Pixie, and they headed off for the school, laughing. They were completely oblivious to their surroundings, and so failed to notice the shadow following them. As soon as they were alone in the street, with no one even in hearing distance, the shadow struck.

It hit out at Jari first, silently smashing a heavy fist into his head, knocking him out in one blow and causing him to fall to the floor. Pixie gave a startled yell, and tried in vain to shrug her jacket off and release her wings. Within seconds, she lay on the floor beside Jari, unconscious. The shadow allowed itself a small smile. _That had been too easy. So engaged in each other's company, so unaware, so stupid._

A few minutes later the street was empty, and there was no trace of Jari or Pixie, or the shadow that had taken them.

**Ah ha! A bit of a cliff-hanger! What will Sinister do with Jari and Pixie? And when will they be discovered missing? I'll try and update soon. Please review; I'd love to know what you think! **


	12. The Dilema

**Apologies in advance for calling tea a 'vile concoction' to any tea lovers out there. Personally, I like nothing better than sitting down with a cup of tea and reading/writing fan fiction. But that's beside the point…**

"You said Jari was due back over an hour ago. And he's not here." Loki's voice was sharp, and lacked its usual mocking tone.

Emma gave a derisive laugh. "He's a teenager, darling, what do you expect? He's hardly going to stick to timetables."

"I'm sure that is the case for most of your mutant children. But how many of them are experiments made by someone so powerful and dangerous they are at risk?" At the back of his mind, Loki thought that he was overreacting slightly. Even further back was a voice arguing that as a father it was his duty to overreact during certain circumstances.

"You Asgardians worry too much. More tea?" Emma was clearly enjoying Loki's discomfort.

"I do not want any more of your vile concoction." Loki stood up, angered, and left the room.

As soon as he'd left, Cyclops turned to Emma. "Emma, dear, do you really think it's a good idea to anger a god?"

"Don't be silly Scott, all gods love an excuse to overact. I shouldn't worry. Have another sandwich."

. . . . .

Gambit was heading along the corridor to his bedroom. It had been a long day, and he was looking forward to crashing in bed hours earlier than usual. All thoughts of bed vanished however, when he opened the door and was met with a stormy looking Asgardian.

"What are you doing in my bedroom?" Gambit was amazed at how calm his own voice was. His shock though was clear on his face.

"Do not be alarmed, I do not wish to share sleeping quarters with you."

"That's a relief." Gambit looked more than relieved. "But what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." Loki answered simply. "You are aware of the threat Jari faces on Earth? That his creator will come looking for him sooner rather than later, and when he does it will most likely end badly for Jari and those around him. And since Jari is over an hour late returning to the 'safety' your X-Men have offered him, I am inclined to believe that the worst has happened."

Far from waving away Loki's concerns as he had expected, Gambit nodded gravely. "You have a point. We could ask Emma to use Cerebra to tell us where he is."

Loki shook his head. "She won't. That woman is too stubborn for her own good. She refuses to believe that Jari may be in any danger."

"And Pixie." Gambit had suddenly remembered who Jari was with.

"Pixie? The girl with the pink hair? She could be in danger too."

Gambit said nothing, but grabbed his staff from the wall and headed for the window.

"I take it we are going after them then?" Loki asked, surprised. "Wouldn't the door be a better option?"

"I'm going after them. You're welcome to come with me. And I'll get stopped if I go out the front door; the window is the better option."

Loki smirked. "A man after my own heart. I always use the back exit."

Gambit shot him a warning glance. "Don't try anything on with me, _mon ami_. Especially not now."

Loki sighed dramatically. "It was a joke. Something you X-Men do not seem to understand." He was left addressing an empty room; Gambit had jumped out the window. Smiling to himself Loki followed.

. . . . .

Jay Guthrie was lying on his bed, staring out the window. Suddenly a figure fell past, landed on the ground, and picked himself up, turning to look back up.

"Nick?"

"Yeah?" Nick was also lying on his bed, intently playing on his DS.

"Mr Gambit just jumped out a window." This was delivered in Jay's usual deadpan tone, so Nick didn't know if he was joking or not. Sitting up he too looked out the window.

"Crikey, you're right." Just as he said that a second figure, clad in green, landed next to Gambit. "That's the god dude, isn't it? What do you think they're doing?"

"Jari and Pixie aren't back yet. My guess is that those two got worried, Miss Frost said there was nothing to worry about, and so they decided to sneak out." Jay sat up. "Maybe we should tell Miss Frost." He headed to the door.

Nick on the other hand, opened the window. "What'll Miss Frost do? Maybe we should go after them instead."

"What good will that do?" Jay hovered by the door.

"Um…"

. . . . .

Jari's hair hung limply in his eyes, matted with blood. His vision was blurry, and as he gradually came to he found that he couldn't move his limbs. His first thought was that maybe he was experiencing the hangover Gambit had had. Then he became aware of the heavy manacles fastening his arms and legs to a wall. Raising his head he squinted, bringing the room into focus. Across from him, imprisoned in a similar way, was Pixie.

Her wings were bound too, and lacked their usual colour. She finally raised her head and locked eyes with him. Her eyes were red and full of fear.

_What happened? Where the hell are we? What's gonna happen? _Despite the fear he was feeling, Jari attempted a smile.

"Hey- don't worry. We'll get out. Soon as I vaporise these shackles we'll be off and away." He was rewarded with a weak grin from Pixie. But plans of escape were soon put on hold.

"I'm afraid your mutations won't work here." A low voice, sinister and menacing rang out. A figure stepped out of the shadows, into Jari and Pixie's view.

"Who the hell are you!" Jari summed up enough strength to shout.

The figure chuckled, sending shivers down Jari's spine. "You don't recognise me? What a pity. I hoped there would be a moment of recognition when you looked into my eyes and knew who I was. I'm disappointed in you, Jari Clark."

It then hit Jari who this person was. "You created me" his voice came out in a hoarse whisper. Understanding had also dawned on Pixie.

"Sinister. You're Sinister." She spat out.

Sinister laughed. "So you do know who I am!"

"Lucky guess" Jari muttered.

"I know about you. Off the X-Men." Pixie was braver now, more defiant.

"Ah yes. Little Miss Gwynn. You want to be an X-Man, don't you? So far from home, so desperately trying to impress your poor, dead, father."

"How do you know about my dad?" Pixie was furious. "And what do you want from us?"

"All in good time. To be honest, you were an unexpected bonus; I originally only came for Jari."

"Well what do you want from me? Why did you create me?" Jari took over the questioning.

"I specialise in genetics. Especially mutations. And I wanted to create one of the most powerful mutants Earth has ever seen. Obviously you are not the most powerful- nowhere near it in fact, no offence. But you are one of the most interesting ones. Half Earth-mutant, half Asgardian. Full of raw power ready to be studied."

"You're sick." Jari glared at Sinister.

"I suppose it may seem that way to the uneducated mind. But this is all in the name of science."

"Seriously though, do you have a brain disease or something? There is something seriously wrong with the way your mind works." Jari winced internally. He really should shut up.

"Hmmm. Perhaps I made a mistake in my choice of parents. I didn't expect you to be such a…"

"Smart-alec? That's what it says in my school reports." Again, Jari wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

"Indeed. I won't deal with you in this way. You have a few options. One: keep quiet of your own accord. Two: I cut out your tongue. Brutal, but effective. Three: I start experimenting on your girlfriend here, until you learn to keep your voice under control. But I'll be experimenting on her later anyway, no matter your choice. I'll start on these wings of hers."

"No!" Jari shouted. "Okay… I'll be quiet."

Sinister smiled. "Good. Now we can get started."

**Dun dun duh… Stay tuned… In the meantime, vote time! Do you think Nick and Jay should go after Gambit and Loki (for no apparent reason) or should they alert the other X-Men? You decide… hopefully. **


	13. The Chase

**This is the second last chapter. Just to warn you. Eeep. I can't believe it's nearly over! Also for the purpose of the story Loki can make himself and those near him immune to psychic contact, and do some sort of weird human GPS thing.**

"I can't believe we're actually doing this." Jay muttered, as he and Nick headed towards the front gate.

"What else can we do? Miss Frost wouldn't do anything if we told her." Nick hissed back, although he was starting to wish that he'd agreed with Jay's earlier suggestion. They crept towards the gate, but were soon stopped by a sharp voice coming from behind them.

"And what do you two think you're doing?" Emma caught Nick and Jay as they were trying to sneak out.

"Don't bother answering. Just get back inside." Emma snapped.

Nick shuffled his feet. On second thoughts going after Gambit and Loki was a bad idea. Jay remained silent.

"Oh for heaven's sake!" Emma exclaimed. She'd skimmed the surface thoughts of both Nick and Jay, and had discovered what Gambit and Loki had done. "Does no one have any patience?" She spun on her heel and headed back inside. Nick and Jay looked at each other, then hurried after her.

Once inside she headed to find Scott and the others. "Scott! Gambit and Loki have run off to find Jari and Megan. I've tried contacting them but Loki must have put some sort of psychic shield around them, and I can't get through."

"Where've they gone?" Rogue asked.

"I don't know, that's what I'm trying to find out!" Emma frowned, fingers pressed to her temple.

"Well what are we supposed to do then?" Bobby was impatient.

"I don't know- aaargh!" Emma broke off with a cry, clutching her head in her hands, bent double. Scott immediately rushed over to her.

"Emma! Are you alright? What's happened?"

Emma gasped and straightened up. "Gambit…shouting in my head…he's found Jari and Megan."

"Well where are they then?" Rogue demanded.

"Down town…in trouble. It's Sinister. Sinister's got them. Sinister must have created Jari." She shook her head. "We need to go. I've warned him not to do anything stupid but I don't trust him." She looked up at the present X-Men. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

. . . . .

"The telepath's trying to contact you." Loki remarked, as he and Gambit searched for any sign of Jari and Pixie.

"How do you know that? I f she's trying to contact me shouldn't I be able to hear her?" Gambit frowned, staring at something on the street.

"I can sense her; but I'm blocking your mind from her. She wants us to come back." Loki noticed what Gambit was staring at. "Is that blood?" He knelt down.

"Mon dieu. But it doesn't lead anywhere; there isn't a trail or anything." Gambit looked around searching for more clues, but found nothing.

"Wait. I can try and search for him." Loki closed his eyes.

"What are you…?" Gambit started.

"Quiet." Loki said, eyes still closed.

"But…"

"Silence."

After a few minutes Loki's eyes snapped open. "We go east." He headed off, followed by Gambit.

"How'd you do that?" Gambit wanted to know. "Are you like a human GPS or something?"

Loki allowed himself a brief smile. "Asgardian, remember?"

. . . . .

They shortly arrived at the entrance to some sewers.

"You sure this is the place?" Gambit asked, his voice low.

"Yes. I would guess that there is a secret complex hidden underneath the sewers. I do love a good secret base; yours turned out to be quite unsatisfactory." Loki added, which earned him a sharp glare from Gambit.

"So you're saying there's something under the sewers?"

"Yes. You first, off you go."

_He's enjoying himself too much. _Gambit thought, as he ventured into the sewers. _Jari's in danger and he's comparing secret bases?_

. . . . .

As they reached what appeared to be a dead end, Loki held up his hand, silencing Gambit.

"This is it." He whispered. Jari's on the other side of this wall."

"What are we waiting for!" Gambit whispered back.

"The entrance isn't here." Loki replied. "It is doubtless that whoever's taken Jari will guard the entrance. I'm going to remove your mental block; I want you to contact Emma."

Gambit nodded. _Emma! We've found Jari! There appears to be a secret base under the sewers downtown._

Almost immediately he got a reply.

_That's Sinister's base! Don't do anything; wait for us to reach you._ Then she was gone, out of his head.

Loki said nothing, but simply stared questioningly at Gambit.

"This is Sinister's base. Sinister must be the one who created Jari." Gambit reported, still coming to terms with this new information himself.

"Sinister?" Loki asked. "Who is he?"

. . . . .

"We'll take cars- there's nowhere to land the Blackbird downtown." Cyclops said, as he, Rogue, Iceman and Emma hurried to the garage. Reaching his car he turned round to find Nick and Jay still following them.

"What are you doing here?" He asked them.

"Well, you never really told us where we should go so we just…" Nick started.

Cyclops shook his head, but when he spoke his voice had lost its sharp edge. "I want you two to go and find Hank. Tell him what's happening, and don't tell the other students about this. Okay?"

"Yes Mr Cyclops sir!" Nick said, whereas Jay simply saluted. Then they ran off as the X-Men piled into Cyclops' car.

"Hey, why can't I sit in the front?" Bobby complained, while Rogue tried to get him to shut up.

"I'm driving, Emma's navigating. Grow up." Cyclops gruffly answered.

"Wait!" Rogue shouted. "Logan's just turned up."

Sure enough Wolverine wrenched opened the car door and slid in next to Bobby.

"Just ran into the kids. I'm not missing this."

"Thank you, Logan." Emma said, checking her hair in the mirror. "I'm sure the extra man-power will come in handy."

"Hey, why do I have to be in the middle?" Bobby started.

"Shut up!"

. . . . .

"I don't like waiting." Gambit muttered, as he paced up and down.

"Why wait then?" Loki asked, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Emma said…"

"Come on, you don't actually listen to her do you?"

"Well…" Gambit wasn't sure how to reply.

"Besides, I have a plan."

"Okay, stand back." Gambit drew a pack of cards from his pocket, charged them, and then threw them at the wall. A section of the wall exploded in a flash of light, revealing a metallic corridor stretching away.

They made their way through the maze of passageways, relying only on Loki's inner GPS. Eventually they reached the room where Jari and Pixie were held. Despite Loki's warning Gambit made a run straight for Jari. Shaking his head, Loki followed. He was hit by a streak of lightning square in the chest, and fell to the floor.

Jari cried out in warning, but was too late. Soon Gambit joined Loki on the floor. Mr Sinister stepped out of the shadows.

"What did you do!" Jari yelled.

Sinister just laughed. "Don't worry, your 'parents' are merely unconscious. It was foolish of them to think they could rush in just like that, but I had anticipated they might try something like this. If this is the best your X-Men can do, I would give up all hope of a dashing rescue for you and your girlfriend."

Sinister walked over to Jari, now with a scalpel in his hand.

"Now- where were we?"

**Slightly clichéd last sentence I know, but I couldn't resist. Anyway, last chapter up in the next couple of days, so stay tuned! Also, there will be a 'deleted scenes' chapter at the very end, made up of stupid drabbles with no real importance to the actual story. **

**Please review!**


	14. The Finale

**Here we go: the end! Or is it… if I get hit by the football of inspiration I may write another one, set after Loki's fall from Asgard (at the end of the Thor film)… hmmm. We'll see.**

Sinister was hit from behind by a staff; he fell to his knees but soon got to his feet, and whirled around to face his attacker. To his surprise he saw Gambit and Loki standing behind him, poised for attack. Sinister shot a glance at the floor where they had been lying just a few seconds before. They were no longer there, yet the Gambit and Loki standing now bore no signs of having been knocked unconscious.

"How…?" Sinister started, while Jari grinned happily behind his back.

"An Illusion." Loki said, then swiftly placed a kick to Sinister's chest, sending him crashing backwards into a wall.

"Nice" Gambit remarked to Loki.

"Thank you."

Sinister, however, was not beaten yet. He staggered to his feet, picked up his scalpel, and then held it to Jari's throat.

"Don't make another move." He pressed the scalpel lightly in for emphasis. A single bead of blood ran down Jari's neck.

Gambit looked at Loki. Loki looked at Gambit. They both looked at Sinister.

"We haven't even known him that long." Gambit shrugged.

"Hey!" Jari shouted, but then fell silent when Loki winked at him. Sinister hadn't noticed the wink, and so tried a different tactic.

"Don't you want to know why I created Jari? How I did it?"

Another look was shared between Gambit and Loki. This time it was Loki's turn to shrug. "Not really."

Sinister snarled; he was running out of options. In his split second of indecision Gambit attacked with a volley of charged cards, some of which hit Sinister, the others severed the manacles restraining Jari.

This time Sinister was knocked unconscious. Loki cautiously approached just to check. He turned round smiling.

"He is unconscious. And your X-Men have just arrived!"

"About time." Jari muttered, as he and Gambit undid Pixie's bonds. She had been unconscious most of the fight, but now came round, collapsing onto the floor. Jari helped her up, and she lent heavily on him as they made their way to the exit.

"What are we gonna do with Sinister?" Jari asked, after Pixie had been filled in on the details.

"I'm sure Emma'll find something." Gambit said.

"As I believe you humans say; speak of the devil" Loki had just seen Emma storming over to them.

"Don't tell me: she's going to tell you off for rescuing us." Jari joked, although inside he was still scared stiff and was only acting light-hearted to disguise his true feelings.

Pixie gave a half-hearted laugh. "You're probably right."

"I expressly told you not to go in without backup!" Emma raged. No one paid any attention to her.

"Remy!" Rogue ran over to Gambit. "What happened?"

"He has a secret base in the sewers!" Iceman was incredulous.

"Are you alright, kid?" Wolverine directed his question at Pixie. She nodded, then sat down on the pavement and hugged her knees. "Come on." He picked her up and carried her back to Cyclops' car.

Cyclops himself made his way over to Loki. "Where's Sinister?"

"Inside." Loki motioned to the sewers. "He's unconscious." Cyclops nodded briefly, then headed off into the sewers, beckoning Iceman and Rogue to follow him.

Loki made for the car. He sat in the driver's seat and looked around with interest. "How does this contraption work?"

Wolverine jumped into the passenger seat. "Accelerator, clutch, brake…"

"Logan! Get him out of Scott's car!" Emma snapped.

Gambit and Jari joined the others in the car. "We need to get the kids to Hank." Gambit said, casting a sideways glance at Emma, who was yelling at them to get out of the car.

"Leaving would be nice." Pixie murmured, starting to fall asleep.

Wolverine turned to Loki. "Fancy a driving lesson?" Loki smirked in response. "Just tell me what to do."

The engine sputtered into life, and swiftly reversed into a wall. The end plate fell off, then after a few seconds the car burst forward and away.

"Logan! Remy! Stop this at once!" Emma had given up shouting out loud, and so instead tried projecting her thoughts into the car. But either Loki was shielding her out or the X-Men in the car just weren't responding to her. The car screeched away into the distance, leaving an enraged Emma standing alone in the street.

Cyclops, Rogue and Iceman soon emerged from the sewers. Cyclops wasted no time in reporting to Emma. "Sinister isn't there. There are definite signs of a fight, but Sinister must have left. Did you guys see anything…?" He broke off as he noticed the missing car and people.

"Where did the others go?" He asked.

"They left as well." Emma replied bitterly. "And they took your car. So no sign of Sinister?"

"Honestly Emma, we searched the entire place." Rogue said.

"Yeah, we found a whole load of freaky equipment but no sign of the man himself." Iceman added.

"I guess he'll show up again soon." Cyclops said. "And when he does, we'll be ready."

"Darling, do you have to be so clichéd?" Emma asked. "Sinister can wait. Right now I need to contact someone at the mansion to come and pick us up."

"Couldn't we just walk?" Rogue was puzzled. "It's not that far."

"In these shoes?"

. . . . .

Jari had passed out as soon as they returned to the mansion, and Pixie was asleep from the moment they had set off. They ended up in the medical wing, and woke up later.

Pixie was the first to wake. She gradually came round, and blinked at the bright lights.

"Good morning Miss Gwynn." Hank was using his best bedside manners. "I took the liberty of making you breakfast!" He thrust a tray full of food in front of her, then took a step back.

"How long was I out?" Pixie picked up a piece of toast and hungrily tore into it.

"Over a day or thereabouts."

At this Jari also woke up. "Can I smell toast?" he asked groggily.

"Yep!" Pixie replied cheerfully, more or less back to her old self. "It's mine- you can't have any!" For emphasis she hurriedly started on another piece.

"I anticipated that." Hank said, appearing with another tray. "Which is why I made more."

Jari started eating, but then stopped. "What happened to Sinister?" Pixie also stopped eating, and turned to look at Hank.

"He's gone. We don't know where to, but he's vanished off the radar. I'm sorry."

Jari nodded and then carried on eating. He was interrupted by Loki suddenly appearing in the room.

"Did you just…" Pixie started, then thought better of it.

"Yes, I did just teleport." Loki looked very smug. Jari looked shocked.

"Just how much can you actually do?"

"Quite a bit." Loki answered. "I'll write you out a list sometime."

Just then Gambit arrived in the doorway, slightly out of breath. "Why couldn't you walk like normal people do?" He asked Loki, who was still looking smug.

"Because I'm not a normal person. You should know that by now."

"Well you two seem to be getting on well." Jari mumbled, his mouth full of food.

Gambit laughed. "Yeah, well, we figured it would be best if we got on. How are you feeling?"

"Alright actually." Jari answered. "Bit bruised but ok."

"And how are you?" Loki asked Pixie.

"Me? Um, I'm fine thanks."

Loki continued. "I've heard you have strong magical potential."

"Oh, well, yeah, I guess…" She trailed off, blushing.

"If you like, I will give you a few lessons sometime. You too Jari, but you don't have a choice. As my son, you should be trained proficiently in sorcery."

"Yes! Yes please." Pixie eagerly answered.

Jari just choked on his toast.

Gambit and Loki stood up and made to leave. When he reached the door, Gambit turned around.

"And get better soon Jari; I'm taking you on a job with me soon." And with that, they both left.

"Wow. I have really pushy parents. Never thought that would happen." Jari was shocked, but also slightly pleased.

. . . . .

Over a month had passed since Jari and Pixie's kidnapping. It was Friday evening and lessons were over so they were outside playing baseball with some of the other students.

"Home run!" Nick shouted, as he happily hit another ball deep into a hedge.

"Damn it Gleason!" Pixie yelled, as she rummaged in the hedge yet again trying to pick the ball out.

Jari laughed along with the others as Pixie emerged from the hedge covered in twigs and leaves. Laughing herself, she swiftly chucked the ball at Nick's head, where it was knocked out of the way before it made contact by Jay's bat. Still laughing, Jari checked his watch.

"Aw shoot, we're late. See you later!" He yelled, as he dragged Pixie towards the large entrance gates, where Loki was waiting impatiently.

Nick complained as he waved goodbye to his friends. "I can't believe Jari gets to go to Asgard. Why can't my parents be aliens?"

Jay ignored him. He did this every week.

**The end! Ta da! I couldn't figure out how to properly end it, so apologies if it seems like an odd ending. I'll be posting a deleted scenes chapter tomorrow as well, just cos I feel like it, but don't feel like you have to read it- it's not crucial to the storyline. **

**Should I write a sequel? Or should I just leave this story to rest in peace? Let me know…**

**And let me know what you thought of this last chapter, nay the story as a whole! I've been waiting for an excuse to use the word 'nay' for a while now.**

**Over and Out. (Been waiting for an excuse to say that too)**


	15. Deleted Scenes

**Deleted scenes, which aren't of any significance whatsoever. You are under no obligation to read them. They're loosely based on things which happened on my work experience…**

The Project

"Clark and Gleason" Cyclops beckoned Jari and Nick up to the front of the class. He didn't normally teach science lessons, but he had recently set the kids the task of coming up with their own science projects.

A brightly coloured graph was projected onto the wall. Jari started to explain.

"So the red bits are the engine noises and the green and blue and yellow are just background noise and stuff." Nick nodded along, then played a loud engine noise into the classroom. When it was over they both looked expectantly at Cyclops.

"Very interesting, but could you explain what exactly this is?" The rest of the class looked just as confused.

"Yeah, we borrowed some of Beast's recording equipment…" Jari started.

"Then we recorded the revs off Cyclops' car a few days ago, and put them on the graph!" Nick finished triumphantly.

"How did you get to my car?" Cyclops' face was stormy.

"Er… Jari had the keys."

"And how did you have my keys?"

"Um…"

The Detention

"Why can't Nick help me?" Jari had just been given his detention: tidying the X-Men's stationary cupboard.

"I believe that you were responsible, and that you led Nick astray." Emma had her arms folded, with a slight smile on her face.

"I didn't even know the X-Men had a stationary cupboard!" Jari exclaimed.

"Neither did I darling, until I stumbled across it the other day. That's why it's in such a mess. Have fun." And with that she turned and walked away, leaving Jari staring at absolute chaos.

The Safety Cupboard

"Two and a half hours." Jari collapsed on his bed.

Nick looked up from his game. "What did she have you doing?"

"Tidying out the safety cupboard."

"Safety cupboard? I didn't realise we had one of them."

"Damn. I meant stationary cupboard. Although we should have a safety cupboard, and it could be like the opposite of the Danger Room, and it could be full of seatbelts and oxygen masks and oven gloves and stuff. And then if you need any extra safety or anything you could go to the cupboard and come out wearing a biohazard suit or something."

Eyes closed Jay spoke. "You're a nutter. You know that?"

The Motive

"Why do you do it?" Loki asked.

"Why do I do what?" Gambit wasn't in the mood for talking.

"Why are you X-Men?" Loki directed his question at Iceman and Cyclops as well. "You don't get paid, and people hate you. So why do it?"

"We think that by helping the humans and protecting them against threats while at the same time helping our own kind we can eventually be accepted into society." Cyclops answered without a hint of emotion in his voice.

"I see."

"It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling!" Iceman said.

Cyclops groaned.

The Blast Shield

"Ah, Remy. Come in." Gambit had poked his head round the door to Beast's lab, curious about the assortment of loud noises coming from inside. He cautiously made his way inside.

"What's all the noise about?"

"I'm testing a new hydraulics system for the Blackbird. Do you want to watch?"

Gambit nodded; he had nothing better to do.

"Good. You might want to stand behind here though." Beast gestured to a high-tech looking shield at the far end of the room.

"…why?"

"It's a new system, and there is the slightest possibility that something may go wrong, and flying projectiles can be quite dangerous." Beast appeared nonplussed by the thought of exploding machinery.

"And this shield should protect me?"

"I doubt it. Any explosion would cause pieces to move at such a high velocity they might shatter the shield."

"Ah. I just remembered; I have to see Rogue about… something." With that he fled from the lab, leaving Beast chuckling to himself.

**So that's it! What did you think? **


End file.
